Help Save the Outside Found Bus

Update 6/26/15: We got insurance! Long story short, Good Sam stepped up and helped us figure everything out. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to help us figure this out! We’re excited to get on the road, more updates coming soon.

This gorgeous bus might never make it on the road because we can’t find insurance. After months of working on transforming the bus from a shell of a school bus into an RV, one insurance company after another has denied us coverage, each with varying reasons. We were looking forward to starting our road trip tomorrow, but that is not going to happen. Now, we’re just hoping to get on the road at all. We’re reaching out for your help!

We’ve contacted over 30 insurance companies so far, with no success. At this point we’re looking for an independent insurance agent who can help write us an individual policy for liability insurance only. If you think you can help us with this, or in any possible way and SAVE THE OUTSIDE FOUND BUS, please contact Alyssa and Will at outsidefoundbus@gmail.com.

Continue reading to check out the bus. Click here to learn more about our insurance problems.

She’s a 2001 GMC Bluebird.

Looking back from the driver’s area. The couch lifts up for storage underneath.

Have to have room for the Hildebear!

But when we have guests or want to eat, this area transforms.

Looking back to see our desk area, directly across from the kitchen.

Tiny oven, fridge, and stove!

Drawers for clothes storage in front of the bed, step so Hilde can get up on her own!

Cozy cabin bed area, and a place for our tiny library.

View from the bed!

Tiny bathroom with a composting toilet and custom shower!

“Garage” in the back for our mountain bikes, climbing, hiking, backpacking, and skiing gear!

The Backstory

Will and I have spent the last few years perfecting the “weekend warrior” thing. Since we run a small consulting business, we can do all of our work remotely, so we pack up our truck and hit the road every weekend to get as much hiking, mountain biking, and general adventure time as we possibly can.

The old way. Lots of fun, not a lot of space!

Last summer we took a long road trip through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington – “weekend warrioring” for several weeks at once. On a lonely highway just outside of Missoula, Will came up with a great idea. We would buy an old school bus, convert it to a camper, and travel to our favorite spots around the West. It would have a full kitchen, bathroom, living area, and – most importantly – plenty of desk space so we could still work, from anywhere. It would be powered by solar energy and and have a composting toilet so we could be off the grid as much as possible. Best of all, our favorite pup Hilde could come along on all of our adventures without having to be cramped in the back seat. We worked hard, saved our pennies, and decided to take the plunge late last year.

She fit so perfectly when she was only 6 months old!

We found the bus in on Craigslist in Grass Valley, California, and brought it to Will’s parent’s house in Auburn, just 20 miles away. Will’s Grandpa has been collecting tools and knowledge for longer than we’ve been alive, so his workshop would be our home base. Over the last few months we’ve worked 12+ hour days, simultaneously keeping our business afloat and turning this shell of a bus into the ultimate adventure mobile.

The day we brought her home. We were so proud!

It was no cakewalk! We encountered challenges every step of the way, but instead of giving up or compromising on our vision, we learned more skills, made valuable connections with those who could help us, and – above all – never lost sight of the end goal.

The inside, before we started working.

We did so much grinding!!

Side by side, we ground down over 2000 rivets, layed and re-layed floors, and built furniture. We hired an RV contractor hook up our appliances, electrical, and plumbing, but we built everything else with our own two hands, and help from our family and friends. Perhaps the most notable is our 30º kitchen counter – we all wished we’d payed a little more attention in geometry when building that piece! After four months of hard work, we’ve ended up with the most amazing thing either of us has ever created.

Before and after: is this really the same bus!?

Just recently we gave the bus our stamp of approval and celebrated the end of this project with an “Open Bus” party for our friends and family. Little did we know that in reality, we were far from getting on the road.

Insurance Challenges

Let’s back up a second. To register a vehicle in California, you must have proof of insurance. Back in November when we bought the bus, we talked to a company (who shall remain nameless, in case they want to fix this problem!) who told us that they would insure the bus, but not until it was converted. Great news!

We got back in touch with them a few weeks ago with photos of our finished bus. When the agent asked us “So, are you guys going to be living in it?” we didn’t realize it was a qualifying question, and said yes. Unfortunately, casually answering this simple question made us un-insurable: even though we were only applying for liability coverage, this company wouldn’t take us if we were going to be “full timers.”

The funny thing is that we won’t technically be “full time” in the bus, according to this company’s own guidelines of “9 or more months of use per year.” We are planning on traveling from now until the beginning of winter, storing the bus while we stay in Montana, Wyoming, or Colorado, for the ski season, and picking it up again next spring. After that we’ll be looking for a place to settle down; this is not an incredibly long term arrangement for us.

Thinking it was all one big misunderstanding, we called the insurance company back and explained this to them. They balked. We groveled – promising to change our plans completely to fit their criteria (and even provide proof!) They responded that they wouldn’t believe our change in plans because it was different from our original story, and refused to insure us no matter what we do.

Now, I know what you’re thinking here – why not just contact another company? Long story short, we’ve been working on this for several weeks and have gone down every available avenue that we know of. We’ve spoken with more than 30 companies so far, to no avail. Apparently there is not a lot of love for converted school buses in the RV insurance world.

At this point we just want to get this bus on the road. We’re only looking for liability insurance to meet the minimum requirements for the DMV. We don’t want to deceive anyone by pretending it’s not a bus, which is what a lot of advice online suggests. We’ve worked so hard on this thing, and we just want to finish it with the same above-board attention to detail that we’ve had all along.

We’ve heard that there are small insurance companies out there who can write their own policies, independent from the big guys. If you have any knowledge of this, or know someone who might be able to help us, please get in touch with us at outsidefoundbus@gmail.com. If you don’t know anyone who can help, we would really appreciate you sharing our story so it might reach someone who can.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, than the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

So here we are. We’ve cast off our lines, but have become mired on the rocks. Help us get back on track, and we’ll do our best to share our adventures with you. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and hopefully to help us realize our dreams.

Alyssa jumped head first into outdoor sports when she quit her job at a successful tech startup to hike the John Muir Trail in 2013. Afterwards, she convinced Will to join her in starting a consulting company. He was game, with one condition: they move from Mountain View, CA to Boulder, CO. In Boulder they fell in love with mountain biking and trail running and realized that as long as they had internet, they could work from anywhere. Thus, the bus idea was born, and after a few months of hard work renovating the 2001 GMC BlueBird, they started living the dream of traveling full time while still maintaining "adult" careers. Thanks for following along on our adventure!

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We're Will & Alyssa. In 2013 we quit our Silicon Valley startup jobs to move to Boulder, Colorado and start our own company. The following year we decided to put the "remote work" trend to the test by moving into a 37' school bus we converted into the ultimate adventure mobile. We traveled full time for two years, and recently settled down in Bozeman, Montana to enjoy the mountain life with our dogs Hilde and Yodel.

Want to get in touch?
The fastest way to get a hold of us is on Facebook Messenger( « Click to start a message!) but you can also email us. Happy Trails!